This invention is in the field of flexible hoses and particularly hose assemblies for conducting petroleum products to or from a tanker.
Tankers carrying liquid petroleum products are conventionally loaded or unloaded near a land based station or the like and many problems are encountered. Usually a hose or pipe extends from the tanker to the land based station and often a hose is employed that is arranged to float at the surface of the sea. Such hoses are conventionally short lengths, only semi flexible, connected together and provided with a special outer surface of low specific weight or an additional adjacent tubing that is inflated, for the purpose of providing buoyancy. Many problems arise with such conventional systems. Water pollution often results from accidental rupture of such hoses. The conventional hoses are generally too stiff to be coiled and so must be in relatively short lengths, which presents transporting problems and necessitates many more connections between hose sections and more likelihood of leaks. The floating hose constitutes an obstruction of the seaway across which the hoses are floating. The high cost of changing defective hose sections and relatively long waiting periods are incompatible with the high cost per hour of a tanker that is stopped for loading or unloading.